Lumbar lordosis reduction and disc bulge may correlate with multifidus muscle fatty infiltration in patients with single-segment degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis.

Objectives: To investigate the correlation between fatty infiltration in the multifidus muscle related to the involved nerve root and structural parameters associated with stenosis in patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS).

Patients And Methods: Sixty-four patients with single-segment DLSS at L4-5 were retrospectively enrolled. The fatty infiltration rate (FIR) of the multifidus muscle at L5-S1, lumbar lordosis and the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the structural parameters at L4-5, such as dural sac, disc bulge, ligamentum flava and vertebral body of L5 were measured on magnetic resonance images using ImageJ software.

Fat Infiltration in the Multifidus Muscle as a Predictor of Prognosis After Decompression and Fusion in Patients with Single-Segment Degenerative Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: An Ambispective Cohort Study Based on Propensity Score Matching.

Objective: To determine whether fat infiltration in the multifidus muscle would predict surgical prognosis in patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS).

Methods: This ambispective cohort study enrolled 118 consecutive patients undergoing surgery for L4-5 single-segment DLSS. Fat infiltration rate (FIR) on magnetic resonance images of the multifidus muscle at L5-S1 were measured using ImageJ software.